"Perverse Mindset": PM Modi's Rebuttal To Critics On Rapes, Lynchings
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, often attacked by his critics for a spike in incidents of mob violence and rapes, ripped into his political rivals for their effort to "reduce these incidents" to "mere statistics" and indulge in politics.
"That shows a kind of perverse mindset that looks at violence and criminality as something to be milked, instead of unitedly opposing," PM Modi said in an interview to news agency ANI.
"Even a single incident is one too many and deeply unfortunate.... My party and I have spoken in clear words, on multiple occasions against such actions and such a mindset. It is all on record," PM Modi said.
"Let there be no doubts about the will of my Government to implement the rule of law in its true letter and spirit," he said.
But as an NDTV investigation earlier this month indicated, there is a gap between the stated objective and ground realities.
In two cases, one each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, two men accused of killing two men on suspicions of cow slaughter were caught on a hidden camera bragging about the killings.
The Supreme Court, which had spoken against "horrendous acts of mobocracy" just days earlier, took note of the investigation and agreed to hear a petition to seek probe by a court-monitored special team into the murder in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur. Central ministers, however, had declined to comment on the sting, arguing that they hadn't seen the news item.
Janata Dal Secular leader Danish Ali said it was wrong to accuse anyone of politics.
"But there is one question.... Why is it that lynching has become so common in the last four years", Danish Ali said, criticising PM Modi of not taking a public stand when one of his ministers, Jayant Sinha, garlanded convicts in a mob violence case after they were released on bail.
PM Modi's critics, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, have often argued that the Prime Minister doesn't speak when leaders from his party are involved in rapes.
Launching the Congress campaign in Rajasthan a few hours earlier in the day, Mr Gandhi had been unsparing in his attacks on the ruling party at the centre and PM Modi, in particular.
"In UP, a BJP MLA rapes a woman and entire UP BJP tries to protect him. Incidents occurred in Chhattisgarh also but the prime minister does not speak a word," Rahul Gandhi said at the rally.
PM Modi cited the change in law to make provisions of capital punishment in certain category of crimes against women. "You might have noted that results in terms of quick disposal of such cases leading to even capital punishment have started coming in," he told ANI.
courtesy : ndtv.com
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'Absolutely necessary': SC refuses to relax ban on firecrackers in Delhi-NCR
New Delhi, Apr 3 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to relax the ban imposed on the manufacture, storage and sale on firecrackers in Delhi-NCR noting that air pollution levels remained alarming for a considerable time.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said a large section of the population worked on streets and was the worst affected by pollution.
Not everybody can afford an air purifier at their residence or place of work to fight pollution, the bench said.
"Several orders passed by this court during last six months bring on the record the horrible situation with which prevailed in Delhi due to very high levels of air pollution...Right to health is an essential part of Article 21 of the constitution so is the Right to live in a pollution free atmosphere," the court said.
Unless the court was satisfied that the pollution due to the "so-called" green crackers was bare minimum, there was no question of reconsidering the previous orders, it added.
The bench said restricting the ban on firecrackers in the Delhi-NCR region just around Diwali would be meaningless, as it could be purchased and stored in advance.
The top court said the orders passed from time to time would indicate that the directions and ban on the use of firecrackers was warranted by an "extraordinary situation" created in Delhi.
Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh, who is amicus curiae in the case, informed the bench that all four NCR states had banned firecrackers, but online sale remained an issue in some states like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The apex court also raised the issue of noise pollution caused by bursting of firecrackers.
The top court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by firecracker manufactures seeking relaxation of ban and permission to sell green crackers.
The court said manufacturers also have to do their duty towards environment under Article 51A of the Constitution and told them to cooperate.
"We are on whether there is any study on whether any pollution is caused by green crackers. We are appealing to all of you please don't place these applications. The ban is limited to NCR Delhi. You have the entire India open for sale of firecrackers," the bench said.
The top court had in December directed the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments to impose a complete ban on firecrackers until further orders.
The court had noted the Delhi government had enforced a complete ban on the manufacture, storage and sale, including delivery of firecrackers through online marketing round the year with immediate effect.
"We are of the view that this ban will be effective only when other states forming part of the NCR region impose similar measures. Even the state of Rajasthan has imposed a similar ban in that part of State of Rajasthan which falls in NCR regions. For the time being we direct the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to impose a similar ban which is imposed by the state of Delhi," the bench had said.
Expressing serious concerns over high pollution levels in Delhi during Diwali, the apex court previously took exception to the violation of court orders and said its directives on firecrackers ban were "hardly implemented".
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by M C Mehta in 1985 seeking directions to curb air pollution in the national capital and adjoining areas.
